...and cannot tell you how excited I am for it to show up on Thursday.

I was going to upgrade from my POS entry-level 75-300mm to a mid-grade 70-300mm lens... until I searched the crap out of wakeworld and read every damn review and looked at every photo on amazon.com... and I know it's the photographer that makes a great photo, not the lens... but in the long run it seems the $350 difference to the L lens will be well worth it.